Frangible hydrant



Dec. 23, 1941. D. F. o'BRu-:N 2,257533 FRANGIBL'E HYDRANT original Filed June 22, 1939 III/l V TORNEYS Patented'Dec. 23, 1941 xUNITED sTATEs PATENT oFFlCE Denis F. O'Brien, East Orange, N. J.

Original application June 22, 1939, Serial No. 280,478; now Patent No. 2,249,848,-dated July 22,-1941. Divided and this application December 13, 1939, Serial No. 308,945

4 Claims.

This invention relates' to improvements in fire hydrants and more particularly in frangible couplings for hydrant'casings and valve stems.

It is an object of 'the invention to provide couplings of great strength underv service conditions, but which are readily fracturable under impact heavy enough to threaten damage to a hydrant.

It is a further object to provide couplings which are inexpensive to manufacture and are replaceable when broken vvith a minimum amount of labor'and delay.

With the foregoing objects and others which will appear in the following full description in mind, the invention consists in the combinations and ar-rangements of parts and details of construction which will nowibe fully described in connection with the accompanying drawing and then pointed out more particularly in the appended Vclaims.

In th'e drawing:

Fig. 1 is a. side view partly in elevation, and partly in vertical section, of a hydrant embodying the invention in a preferred form;

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1 as to the hydrant casing but through a groove located near the middle of the valve stem coupling, and on an enlarged scale;

Fig.i3 is' a vertical section taken on the line 3.-3i of Fig. 2 and further enlarged; and

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary view showing the valve stem coupling of Fig. 1. V

Referring to Fig. 1 showing the general construction of the h'ydrant, the hydrant casing is composed of an upper section I resting upon a lower section 2 which in turn is attached to a valve casing 3 connected at 4 to a main (not shown) in the usual way; The hydrant is provided with the usual fitt-ing 5 for attachment of a hose and is surmounted by a head 6 with the usual nut 'I for opening and closing the valve. The valve stem is composed of two sections 8 and 9 joined by th'e coupling ID, later to be described in detail, and llowered and raised by means of the nut 'I through screw mechanism of any usual type (not shown) to operate the valve I I which seats upwardly against valve seat I2. C'asing sections I and 2 are separated by a gasket I3 to reduce leakage and held together in alinement by a coupling M. The present invention consists particularly in the construction of the valve stem coupling I0 and casing coupling l4 and in the way in which these parts are rendered frangible.

p Certain features of th'e valve :stemcoupling of. the invention, are .not 'applicable speclfically.

to the casing, and these are covered in my copending application Serial No. 280,478, filed June 22, 1939, which matured into Patent No. 2,249,848 of July 22, 1941, of which the present application is a division, the present application dealing more particularly with the casing coupling and those features applicable to both casings and to valve stems.- p p As shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the casing sections I and 2 are formed with sh'oulders I5 and IG near their ends and forming generally horizontal annular surfaces for engagement by coupling I4. The coupling I4 is composed of two parts I'I and I 8 held together by screws IQ and provided with inner surfaces 20 and 2I to engage the surfaces |5 and IB respectively.

As best wshown in Figs; 2 and Bythe casing section ends beyond shoulders I5 and IB, are of generally cylindrical formand the coupling I4 is hollowed out to accommodate a sealing member 22 made of flexible material such as rubber and having the form of a continuous tire with inturned flanges 23. As will be readily understood, any water escaping past wash'er I3 will tend to force the flanges 23 against the casing ends providing an extremely tight seal.

Coupling M is rendered frangible by forming the metal below surface 2I into a flange of the desired thickness, as by forming the members l'I and I8 with a groove or recess 24, as shown. The upper surface 2I of the lower fiange of the coupling terminates in an abrupt shoulder at 25 (Fig. 3). It will be underst-ood that surfaces I5, I'B, 2il and 2I are finished to provide proper engagement between coupling Id and the casing sections I and 2. The coupl-ing sections are preferably formed by Casting, however, and preferably made of such material as east iron, which has desirable Characteristics of strength under steady stresses together With liability to fracture under undue impact or sudden stress. As is evident, impact of a vehicle against the upper casing section I is communicated to the metal below surface 2I as a shear, substantially in alinement with the outer surface of the end of casing section 2. Moreover, any force tending to rock the casing section I will be borne initially by one side only of the surface 2I, rendering fracture of this member under collision relatively easy and insuring breaking of the coupling before any possible damage to the hydrant section can occur.

An important feature of the present inventon consists in the employment of a frangible couplng in coniunction with 'a seal extern'alpto the hydrant Icasing sections It has previously been proposed to employ frangible couplings capacitated to draw the hydrant casing sections together, either by means of bolts or right and left hand threading in the coupling itself, the hydrant being sealed solely by means of a gasket or the like. This practice requires, however, considerable pressure between the casing sections to prevent leakage, and the frangible couplings are subjected to correspondingly heavy stresses. In addition, the couplings are required to withstand abuse resulting from over-tighting by the workmen of the screw mechanisms provided for tightening the coupling. As a result, it has been found that prior art couplings show a definite tendency to fail to break under impact sufiicient to damage a hydrant, when made strong enough to produce a proper seal.

The coupling of the invention, however, is required in service, to withstand only the tension produced by water pressure within the casing. For example, the coupling surfaces 20 and 2| may be separated by a, distance somewhat' greater than that between the shoulders l5 and l 6 on the casing sections When the latter are separated by a given gasket [3, a perfect seal being still provided by the ring 22. Under these conditions, as is apparent, the frangible coupling. is required in service to withstand only the tension produced by water pressure within the hydrant, and it becomes possible to construct the coupling so as to insure breakage under impact of a dangerous magnitude without creating any liability to failure under service conditions.

The valve stem coupling Ill comprises a body member formed with oppositely facing sockets 26 and 21 to receive the valve stem sections 8 and 9. These sections are attached to the coupling ID by means of pins 28 passing through them and through the walls of sockets 26 and 27. At the level of the pins 28 coupling lll is provided with shallow grooves 29 receiving split spring hoops 30 which serve to hold the pins 28 in place, as best shown in Figs. 2 and 4.

As shown in Fig. 4, sockets 26 and 21 are cast with enlargements 3! at their inner ends, Which facilitate finishing of their walls to fit valve stem sections 8 and 9. These sections may rest on the metal of coupling IB separating sockets 26 and 21, or not, it being unimportant in the present construction whether they do so.

To ensure fracture of the coupling When collision occurs, it is formed with an encircling groove 32, located close to one of the enlargements 3| in the axial direction and substantially in alinement With its outer edge, as shown in Fig. 4. The coupling ID, similarly to coupling l4, is preferably made of cast iron, the only finishing required being that of the walls of sockets 26 and 21 which engage the valve stem sections 8 and 9, and drilling holes for pins 28.

In this coupling, as in the hydrant casing coupling previously described, impact against hydrant casing section I is transmitted to the frangible portion of the coupling between enlargement 3! and groove 32 as a shear and in this case also the formation of the coupling by casting produces crystallization tending to predispose to fracture between the lower edge of the enlargement 3! and the groove 32.

When collision occurs, rocking hydrant section l on hydrant section 2, the outer coupling |4 breaks and the inner valve stem coupling- ID breaks instantaneously thereafter, permitting the upper half of the hydrant, together with valve stem section 8, to fall off the lower half. The valve l I remains closed, or, in fact, will close im- 'mediately if open at the time of collision, due to water pressure within the casing 3. The repair of the hydrant after collision, according to the present invention, is extremely simple and involves only the following steps: A new coupling lll is placed upon the lower valve stem section 9 and pin 28 and hoop 30 placed in position upon it. Valve stem section 8 is then inserted in the upper socket 26 and similarly Secured in position Sealing ring 22 may now be placed over section I or 2 and the former placed upon the latter. The ring is now pulled into position and a new pair of members I'I and l8 placed around it and fastened together with screws l9. At this point the operating structure of the usual type (not shown) is put 'in position and the head 6 of the hydrant fastened to it, completing the repair.

Among the advantages of the present invention, in addition to simplicity in use and manufacture, is the great strength of the couplings under service stresses together with a certainty of breakage under relatively slight impact, which insures protection of the hydrant itself. For example, with the present invention it has been found possible in a hydrant of ten inch diameter to construct the parts so that the outer coupling will withstand water pressures in excess of six hundred pounds per square inch, producing a tension on the coupling of the order of twenty to twenty-five tons, and yet have the coupling invariably break immediately upon collision with the hydrant of even a small baggage truck weighing a few hundred pounds and moving at little more than walking speed. In the case of the valve stem coupling it has been found possible to construct this member so as to withstand tension Well in excess of five tons and at the same time to fracture upon impact against the valve stem, under test conditions, of a six pound weight dropping from a height of only two or three feet. As is apparent, the invention accordingly provides for ample factors of safety, both in withstanding of service loads and in protection of the hydrant against damage by collision.

What is claimed is:

1. A frangible coupling for hydrant casings comprising detachably-joined members forming an annular structure having upper and lower flanges With finished inner surfaces for engaging casing sections, one of said fianges being of a predetermined, relatively small thickness and having an inner surface terminating radially of said coupling in an abrupt shoulder.

2. In a hydrant, and in combination, a pair of vertically-alined hydrant casing sections having shoulders adjacent their ends defining generally cylindrical outer surfaces extending axially of said sections beyond said shoulders and annular surfaces extending transversely of said surfaces and a frangible coupling therefor comprising detachably-joined members forming an annular structure having upper and lower flanges engaging the said annular surfaces upon said sections, one of said fianges being of predetermined, relatively small thickness and having an inner engaging surface terminating radially of said coupling in an abrupt shoulder substantially in contact with the outer surface of the casing section engaged thereby.

3. The combination according to claim 2 in which the said frangible coupling is formed with a space between the material thereof and 'the ends of the said sections, adjacent the joint be- 2,267,5ss v 3 ders and spaced apart by a predetermined distance sufficient to provide clearance between said shoulders and said engaging portions when one of said sections is resting upon the other, and the said portions adapted to engage said shoulders comprising a frangible portion positioned in contact With one of said shoulders and terminating radially of said coupling in an abrupt shoulder substantially in contact with the outer surface 10 of the casing section.

DENIS F. O,BRIEN. 

